said to be in series, and commas are used between them. What are the compound objects in the following sentences, and what are their modifiers? That is, what are the object substantives and what are the complete objects? Also, what connective words join the objects? 1. “This man has a daughter and two sons.” 2. "From this mountain top one sees rivers, forests, and towns." 3. "Here you behold not a traitor, but a hero.” 4. "She has neither father nor mother." 5. "He wore a linen blouse, a cloth cap, and a pair of green spectacles." 6. "I shall never repeat a conversation, but an idea often." 7. "A hare once ridiculed the short legs and slow pace of the tortoise." 8. "Poor Tom; that eats the swimming frog, the toad, the tadpole, the wall-newt, and the water." 9. "Wine loved I deeply, dice dearly." 74. Write on the blackboard some sentences containing compound objects. Be sure to punctuate correctly. GROUP OBJECTS 75. Read the following sentences carefully: I. "I know that she will not cease from grief and weeping until she sees me." 2. "They promised that they would carry me to distant Ithaca." 3. "A stag asked a sheep to lend him a measure of wheat." 4. 'Sit down, then, on this stone, and recover your breath,' said Quentin." 5. "The fallen man continued to exclaim, 'I am stifled here, in mine own armor.'" 6. "I advise you to tell us a story here." 7. "A crab said to her son, 'Why do you walk so onesided, my child?'" In section 68 you saw that an object might be one word. In section 73 you saw that an object might be two or more words either joined by a connective, like and, or separated by commas, or both. Consider again the first sentence in section 68. The simple object is "warfare"; that is, you can think of the one word "warfare" and its modifiers separately. But in the first of the sentences given as examples in this section you can do nothing of the sort. The verb is "know"; the subject is "I." As "know" is an action verb, you know that perhaps it may have an object. If you ask yourselves, What receives the action? you get as answer, not one word, or two words joined by a connective, for it is plain that "I" did not "know" "that," or "she," or an idea expressed by any other one word among those that follow. You get as answer, rather, the whole group of words, "that she will not cease from grief and weeping until she sees me." This group of words is the object, and for the present it is called a group object. Group objects have no modifiers, although they usually are composed of parts that have modifiers. Determine what the group objects are in the other example sentences in this section. When do group objects have quotation marks about them? When do they have commas before them, and when not? In three of the example sentences both quotation marks and half-quotation marks are used. Why? 76. Write sentences containing group objects; or, study an old composition to see if it has any group objects. Some of these objects probably begin with that; others may be preceded or followed by such words as said, remarked, asked, or exclaimed; others may begin with the name of some person or thing, or words like him and her and them, which will be followed by to and a verb, as in the third example sentence in section 75. SOME DIFFICULT WORDS 77. It is altogether likely that some of the speakers had occasion to use the words lie, lay, sit, set, leave, and let; and if they did it is likely that some of the words were misused. Lie means to recline, while lay means to place a thing in position. Sit means to take a sitting position, while set means to cause to sit. Leave means to go away from, while let usually means to give permission. The first four of these words are difficult to use when they express other than present time. In the following sentences tell why they are correctly used. PRESENT TIME: I lie on the couch. He lies on the couch. I lay the plate on the table. She lays the plate on the table. He sits in the big chair. I set the plates on the table. She sets the plates on the table. I lay on the couch yesterday. I laid the plates on the table yesterday. He has just lain down on the couch. They have set the plates on the table many a time. However, there are cases of idioms, that is, expressions peculiar to a language, where the definitions given seem to be violated. For example, it is correct to say, The sun sets, and We set out for town at ten o'clock. Leave and let are often confused. The following sentences are correct: 1. Leave me alone (go away). 2. Let me alone (don't bother me). 3. We usually leave school at half-past three. 4. Our teacher lets us go home at half-past three. 5. We left school at half-past three. 6. Our teacher let us leave school at half-past three. 7. We have often left school at half-past three. 8. Our teacher has sometimes let us leave school at three. Do not use leave meaning to give permission. It is not easy to see how the definition given of let applies in the sentence Let me alone, but the expression is idiomatic and correct. Have you discovered that some of these words are transitive and some intransitive? Explain. When you write and speak, take great care to use these words correctly. 78. Write on the blackboard some sentences containing the words lie, lay, sit, set, leave, and let. In each case tell whether the verbs are transitive or intransitive. A PUPIL'S COMPOSITION 79. As you have already discovered, it is rather difficult for you to write a long composition. When you are talking to your friends about the things, you are interested in, you can talk enough, to be sure. Even when you speak from an outline, you can probably tell your experiences and your ideas with some degree of fullness, especially if your classmates ask you suggestive questions. But when you attempt to put your thoughts on paper, the very labor of writing appals you, and your thoughts |